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Backlash Over Walmart T-Shirts Portraying Negative Ethnic Stereotype

A New York man of Irish ancestry is calling for a boycott of Walmart's online store because the retailer's website is selling St. Patrick's Day-themed tees that feature images and messaging that promote negative stereotypes about Irish people being drunks.

After Kevin Westley, a radio show host and Irish dance instructor from Long Island, found a slew of shirts on Walmart.com that bore such portrayals, he began calling for the boycott. A search for "St. Patrick's Day shirts drunk" on Walmart.com makes it evident that Westley isn't making things up. See pictures below for examples from the site.

Back in 2015, Westley took up a similar cause when he bought hundreds of St. Patrick's Day T-shirts with stereotypical portrayals that were on sale at his local Walmart – just to clear them from the shelves. He then returned the tees on March 18. Westley's actions gained ample media attention and led at least a couple Walmarts in his area to desist in carrying such shirts.

"All stereotypes are bad, regardless what group they demean," Westley states, according to IrishCentral. "Think of the thousands of job or housing opportunities that have been lost because of them. If you agree with me, please call Walmart corporate office on their toll-free line at 1-800-925-6278. Better yet, 'contact' them at https://help.walmart.com/ and let them know what you think about these T-shirts."

Westley has stated that, so far, Walmart has not replied to him.

IrishCentral has thrown support behind Westley, and encouraged site visitors to confront other retailers about St. Patrick's Day-related merchandise they find offensive. Suggestions include asking stores to remove the merchandise, while explaining that St. Patrick's Day is a holy day in Ireland and asking stores if they "would sell offensive stereotypical T-shirts for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Puerto Rican Day, St. Joseph's Day, etc."

If retailers refuse to remove the merchandise, IrishCentral suggests taking a page from Westley's book and buying up the merch, then returning it after St. Patrick's Day.

Company Aims To Revolutionize The 'Swag Bag'

Another disruptor has entered the promotional products industry, with her sights set on revolutionizing the swag bag. How? With what some are calling the anti-swag swag bag.

Lynne Lambert is the founder of the popular NYC Subway Line collection of mass-transit merchandise. From T-shirts and hoodies to hats and backpacks, her brand of clothing and accessories pays tribute to the Big Apple and all of its iconic elements. She has taken that same geographical approach with her new company: Mapt Gear.

"Many of us are not comfortable being a free walking advertisement for a company," Lambert told Adweek, "and many companies aren't doing anything more than putting logos in big text across the products. So I think there's room for a very tasteful product to come in."

Using a license to access a cartographic library, Mapt Gear imprints canvas totes with maps that pinpoint the location of a brand's headquarters -- or its various locations, or even the location of a conference it's having. The idea is that the image of an antique map with a pushpin will arouse enough curiosity and interest in a company without splashing its logo all over a product. However, the customizable map does leave enough room for a brand's name or logo – done subtly.

New York-based Mapt Gear currently offers three styles: a Gucci Nylon messenger bag, a 100% cotton tote bag and a silky 100% Poly/Canvas tote bag. Also available is a "Pad-Folio" iPad case made of vegan leather. If Mapt Gear generates sufficient interest from corporate clients, Lambert says she'll expand the product line.

A Kentucky apparel decorating company and the imprinted T-shirts the business declined to print for a gay pride festival are at the center of a renewed court battle that pits arguments for freedom of conscience and religion against accusations of anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

The case involving Hands On Originals (asi/219413), a Lexington, KY-based company that specializes in producing branded apparel for Christian organizations, schools and others, is before the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Blaine Adamson

Last May, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Hands On Originals (HOO), a verdict that marked the second court victory for the company, which previously prevailed in 2015 in the Fayette Circuit Court. Nonetheless, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission appealed the 2017 ruling and the case is now to be heard by the Kentucky Supreme Court.

The issue began in 2012 when the Lexington-based Gay and Lesbian Services Organization (GLSO) asked HOO to print shirts for its pride festival. HOO Owner Blaine Adamson declined the order, saying that printing shirts that bear certain messaging would conflict with his conscience and religious beliefs as a devout Christian. Adamson has said that he offered up another print shop that would produce the order for the same price.

In reaction to Adamson's refusal, the GLSO filed a complaint with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission and HOO was charged with violating Lexington's fairness ordinance, which, in part, prevents businesses open in a public forum from discriminating against people based on sexual orientation.

An initial ruling went against HOO, but that decision was reversed in the subsequent Fayette Circuit Court decision, reports show. In that 2015 ruling, Judge James D. Ishmael cited Kentucky's religious freedom statue and stated that Adamson was not refusing the GLSO as would-be customers because of their sexual orientation, but because he objected to the message on the T-shirt. "It is clear beyond dispute that HOO and its owners declined to print the T-shirts in question because of the message advocating sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman," Ishmael wrote. "The well-established Constitutional rights of HOO and its owners on this issue are well settled." In 2017, the appeals court ruled that HOO's right to free speech supersedes Lexington's fairness ordinance.

In the latest court battle, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin recently filed a legal brief in support of HOO, saying Kentucky's constitution ensures freedom of conscience. "Requiring (HOO's) owners to engage in speech with which they disagree is a violation of their freedom of conscience, and we are hopeful that the Kentucky Supreme Court will reaffirm this bedrock of Kentucky's constitutional charter," said Steve Pitt, Bevin's general counsel, according to the Lexington Herald Leader.

Josh Mers, chairman of Lexington Fairness, an organization that works for fairness and equality in Kentucky, told the Lexington Herald Leader that arguments for freedom of conscience are a "tired old message" that do not have bearing on the HOO case. "I think the most disappointing part is that the governor has decided to add the political aspect to the case by weighing in as the Governor of Kentucky," said Mers, who is running for a seat in Kentucky's state house.

Also, in an online commentary, Adamson has said: "I've happily served and employed people of all backgrounds, of all walks of life.... I have gay customers and employ gay people. For example, we have printed materials for a local band called Mother Jane whose lead singer is a lesbian. That was never a problem for us because ... we'll work with everyone, but we can't print all messages." Adamson added that he has declined other orders, including one for "a simple black shirt with white text that read, 'Homosexuality is a sin.'…I don't think that's how Jesus would have handled the issue; Jesus would have balanced grace and truth."